


If I should Go Before You

by FactoryKat



Series: The Mages' Champion and the Healer's Hope - The Wyatt Hawke Collection [15]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: Anders Being Anders, Custom Male Hawke (Dragon Age), Fluff and Angst, M/M, Prompt Fill, The angst is barely there, handers - Freeform, mhanders - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 13:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20390698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FactoryKat/pseuds/FactoryKat
Summary: Hawke let the crackling hearth, with its intermittent pops and flickers, be the music by which he read and imagined his impassioned lover presenting a finished manifesto to a gathered crowd with stars in their eyes as they listened eagerly.





	If I should Go Before You

**Author's Note:**

> Another prompt-based piece for the weekly writing prompt thread on the subreddit. Inspiration also taken (with permission) from this wonderful fanart: https://densewentz.tumblr.com/post/187200075022/another-art-prompt-from-axel-the-female-garrett

**Prompt: "If I should go before you..."**

“You misspelled proscription, love.”

“What? I did not.”

“Yes, you did. You wrote _ pre _scription - see?” Hawke continued his tender affections with one hand, combing his fingers through Anders’ hair, loosely splayed out over his lap in a tangled golden curtain and waved pages of the manifesto in the mage’s face. 

A silent laugh rumbled in Anders’ chest, shaking them both. "Then maybe I meant to write that!"

By now, the sun had begun its slow descent, pulling towards the horizon and setting the sky ablaze in a hazy wash of orange and brilliant red. What light still gleamed at this hour snuck through the window and gave the shadows dancing in the corners of the bedroom life. It warmed the interior with its fading glow and heightened the peace in silence which now settled comfortably between the two of them.

Wyatt pressed his back against the cushioned upholstery that stretched across the carved wooden headboard and delved into the pages once more. He let the crackling hearth, with its intermittent pops and flickers, be the music by which he read and imagined his impassioned lover presenting a finished manifesto to a gathered crowd with stars in their eyes as they listened eagerly.

Perhaps it was unrealistic, to have such high expectations. Anders had admonished him before over his seemingly endless well of confidence and optimism. Truthfully, not even Wyatt knew where he pulled it from half the time - no well was without a bottom, not even his.

Shuffling paper and the shifting of the mattress beneath him as Anders sat upright stole his full attention. He practically mirrored his partner, setting the manifesto pages aside to meet face to face. A new melancholy plagued his beloved who was no longer content to lay about in bliss all evening. Sunlight no longer streamed through the room and the firelight emphasized the gloom that clouded his face. Sandy brows knitted together and sat low over deep-set, heavy-lidded eyes. Gone was the lazy smile from moments ago, replaced with worry lines creasing Anders’ forehead and lips pulled into a hard line.

“Hawke, if I...” He turned his face away as slender fingers twitched and his palms clutched the pages tighter in hand.

Fear wormed its way through and wound itself into a knot in Wyatt’s chest. He bent forward, taking the mage’s hands into his lap. “If you what? Anders, what’s wrong?”

He seemed to gather his thoughts before continuing. “If I should go before you-”

“Now hold on,” Hawke interrupted abruptly, his inner fire having been doused in ice water as a chill ran down his spine. “What’s this about?” He hadn’t expected a restful evening in, spent pleasantly lost in one another’s company, to take a turn for the fatalistic so soon but something had been weighing on the man for some weeks. Perhaps he was only now willing to share his burdens?

Anders held one hand firmly while the other brushed his cheek with a gentle stroke. “Nothing. It’s nothing I and shouldn’t worry you.”

“Of course I’m going to worry. I love you. Now, what’s on your mind?” Wyatt practically whispered as he coaxed his beloved onward, giving him the platform to speak his mind knowing he was safe to do so. 

For a moment, the mage lingered on the leaves of parchment scattered across the bed without any sense of order, before amber eyes hardened by conviction returned to his. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but whatever happens, perhaps not tomorrow, or the day after that I want it to be you who carries on my - no - _ our _ words.”

Hawke was, quite frankly, taken aback. “I…” he blinked away his surprise and shook off the surmounting tension, refusing to let it seek a foothold in his heart. Not this night. The knot in his chest uncoiled and dissipated, “Anders, of course. I would do anything for you. I meant it the first time I said it, and I mean it still.”

“Yes. I know. In truth, that used to worry me, but - now I find such assurance in that. Thank you.”

“Alright, that’s enough doom and gloom. Come on," Wyatt beckoned, unfurling himself from the love nest that has risen hours ago from their commingling post-coitus. 

"What?" Anders recoiled as Hawke reached for him across the bed. 

"You. Me. A hot bath. Now come."

"I clearly have no say in this."

"Nope."


End file.
